Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Adjective order, Only predicative, 5.5 Attributive and predicative…
Adjective order
We often
have
two adjectives
in
front of a noun:
a
handsome young
man
a
big black
car
that
horrible big
dog
Some adjectives give a
general opinion
. We can use these adjectives to describe almost any noun
good
bad
lovely
strange nice
beautiful
brilliant
excellent
important
wonderful
nasty
awful
Some adjectives give a
specific opinion
. We only use these adjectives to describe particular kinds of noun, for example:
Food
delicious
tasty
Furniture, buildings
comfortable
uncomfortable
People, animals
clever
intelligent
friendly
We usually put a
general
opinion
in front of a specific
opinion:
nice tasty soup
a nasty uncomfortable armchair
a lovely intelligent animal
We usually put an
opinion
adjective
in front of a descriptive
adjective:
a nice red dress
a silly old man
those horrible yellow curtains
Adjectives after link verbs
We use some adjectives only after a link verb:
afraid
alive
alone
asleep
content
glad
ready
sorry
sure
unable
well
ill
Some of the -ed adjectives are normally used only after a link verb:
annoyed
bored
finished
pleased
thrilled
We say:
3 more items...
but we do not say:
3 more items...
Three or more adjectives
1 more item...
Only predicative
glad
Tom was glad to see you
well
Brenda is well now.
content
Marty has been content at work.
ill
Rick became ill last night.
afraid
The bunny was afraid of people.
alive
I didn't know that your grandparents are still alive.
asleep
The baby is finally asleep!
alike
The paintings were alike in many ways.
aware
He was aware of his mistake.
alone
Tina was there alone.
ashamed
You don't need to be ashamed!
awake
Are you awake?
5.5 Attributive and predicative adjectives
Attributive adjectives
are
those which come before the noun they qualify
, but predicative adjectives come after a linking verb like
be, seem or become.
Most adjectives
can serve either purpose.
Some adjectives
are only
attributive
and some only
predicative
so you need to use a different adjective in the other function (see the table below).
Some adjectives
have forms that are only used in a
predicative functio
n; these begin with
a-
.
5.6 Adjectives as nouns
An adjective
can be
used as a noun
by adding
the definite article
the in front of it. Nouns formed this way are divided into two categories:
singular abstract nouns
, for example
the impossible, the obvious
I tried to achieve
the impossible.
Brett didn't want to admit
the obvious
.
plural nouns
that refer to a
group of people
, for example
the young, the brave
"
The Bold
and t
he Beautiful
" has been very successful.
The anthem ends with, "the land of the free and the home of
the brave"
.
happy
Tom is a happy boy.
Tom is happy.
healthy
Attributive and
predicative
live
The concert was broadcast live.
She was at a live concert
similar
Those two pictures are similar.
They had similar opinions.
conscious
He was conscious of his mistake.
That was not a conscious mistake.
Brenda is a healthy woman.
Brenda is finally healthy.
satisfied
contented
Marty is satisfied/contented with his work.
Marty is a satisfied/contented employee
sick
Rick is sick.
Rick's sick brother is with him.
scared
frightened
The bunny was scared/ frightened.
The scared/ frightened bunny escaped.
Only attributive
living
She respects all living things.
sleeping
Sleeping babies look so innocent.